Day 1. We have arrived at our HelpX hosts’ home on Dungay Creek Road, just outside of the town of Murwillumbah. Unfortunately the 17 hour overnight commute from Newcastle to Murwillumbah did not allow us to sleep. We were kind of excited getting onto the CountryLink, since we read that it had a lunch car,… Continue reading Dungay Creek, AUS (pt 1)
Author: christina.kronstal
Newcastle, AUS
Day 1. It’s amazing how quickly things can change on you in one day. We woke up Tuesday morning to pouring rain in Katoomba. The only photo of the Three Sisters that we could scrounge up was while waiting for at the train station. But two train rides (and 5 hours later) we found ourselves… Continue reading Newcastle, AUS
Katoomba, AUS
We’re on our last day at Katoomba, after spending 2 days here. We were told to come see the Blue Mountains, because the vistas are beautiful, and there’s a blue haze that in the air emitted from the trees. But alas, I can not confirm that it is like they say in the brochure. Why?… Continue reading Katoomba, AUS
“Ka kite ano” New Zealand
It’s time to say good-bye to New Zealand. We have an early flight, so we’ll be checking out of the City Garden Lodge at 3:45am. We get breakfast on the Qantas flight (which I plan on taking full advantage of, since their meals are huge), but other than that, I’m sure I’ll be passed out… Continue reading “Ka kite ano” New Zealand
Raglan, NZ (pt 3)
We are actually sitting on the patio of an outdoor cafe in Hamilton eating breakfast before we continue on to Auckland. I’m enjoying my french toast with caramelized bananas and bacon, Dan’s eating the ‘Backpackers Breakfast’, which is the usual affair of sausage, toast, eggs & hash browns. We had just left our little ‘home’… Continue reading Raglan, NZ (pt 3)
Raglan, NZ (pt 2)
Day 4 started out great – we slept in until about 10am, which is completely out of the norm for me, since I’ve been waking up anywhere from 6:30am-7:30am. We had enjoyed an evening hanging out in the courtyard with people from Austria, Germany and the US. One traveller in particular, Patrick from California entertained… Continue reading Raglan, NZ (pt 2)
Plimmerton, NZ
Ok, as I write this entry, I’m cheating a bit, because we’re now in New Plymouth, but we had a 2 nights stay in Plimmerton which is worth blogging all on its own. We had left Napier on a cool and rainy day to head towards the Wellington area. This turned out to be a… Continue reading Plimmerton, NZ
Napier, NZ
We are sitting in the common area of an old 30s era art deco hotel, previously called the “Criterion Hotel”, now operating as a hostel, called the Criterion Art Deco Backpackers hostel. But first, we must take you back to Rotorua for the moment. We were greeted by the rain as we came into Rotorua,… Continue reading Napier, NZ
Ahipara, NZ
We are now staying our 2nd night in Ahipara and had checked into the ‘Endless Summer’ hostel. It’s right across the beach and Dan & I have been enjoying a relaxing afternoon reading on the front lawn. Yesterday, we had arrived from Russell and had stayed at the Kiwi Holiday Park. We finally had a… Continue reading Ahipara, NZ
Russell, NZ
Today we took a pretty casual drive up from Auckland to the Bay of Islands. We had taken the Motorway 1 up to Whangarei (about 2 hours from Auckland), where we stopped for lunch at a charming Italian restaurant serving $10 lunches. We also took the time to check out a used bookstore, where Dan… Continue reading Russell, NZ